The South western news., 1887-11-16
NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN.
A Sensible Man Never Fools ,r,.,
Either a Gun OF a Pistol
IFrom Sunshine.I

From Sunshine1
Never handle firearms carelaes1,. j.,
used to do 1t, but of late wears If r5o1.o
me boil to have anybody point q a-''l -roAes
pistol toward me. Two events gun - oi
life have done more to insnira ,l'i.iiy - my
me wholesome respect fo,, tiroal "l.liln
than anything else that ever bannanalsS ,r@,llS
to me. PPeled
When | was about Is years old bor
rowed shotgun of chum. 0i'
us it loaded9 ?" was the first ouestion
'No,' was the reply, and 7 lko
goose. believed what he said. ''''0
On the way home with il, | met anoth
er boy, who began lodging behind tbe
shade trees as 1 approached. Tndnn ;aie
fashion. I, of course, must do nv 1'1',~. no,t
OF the tragedy, SO cooking the 6up p'iI
began to skulk, too, until, when wnn,ot
to show that that he was plainly in NV
power, l put the muzzle of The ornS nS
up close to his nose and pulled tba
trigger. ' ''''
l thought no more of the circum.
stance until evening, when ] beoou
cleaning the gun, and found that Il yyas 2as
clogged up so L could not blow tbron%5
it. Procuring a cap, placed it on tRe
nipple, and going to the front door
pulled the trigger, and away she Went
with a report that awoke the neiohbors
for blocks around, and filled the leaves
of cherry tree near by as full of holes
as skinner.
Then thought of Tom, into whose
face | had snapped the gun. The fact
that the cap had become damp alone
prevented the gun from being DISCHARGED
and blowing Toms head into smit6er.
eens.
Though his after life was fizzle, and
he filled drunkard's grave at an early
age, yet how my life would have been
blighted if, through my boyish careless.
ness, he had been killed. vowed
vow at that time never to be careless
with firearms.
One more circumstance occurred after
| had grown to manhood. / was stand
ing on pile of lumber, busily engaged
in measuring lumber; when, hearing
''click" behind me, | turned, and there
stood a boatman pointing an army mus
ket squarely at my head, and he had
just snapped it at me. He was man
80 years old, and, under the first angry
impulse that came over me, [ said:
'You old fool, you ought to know bet
ter than to snap gun at a fellows head
in that careless way.
"Ah, pshaw y said he, sit isn't load
ed"
GLOW do you know that r
Because it has been lying aroundmy
boat for more than six months, and [
know it isn't
''That's just the reason you don't
know anything about it, said I.
''Well, now, you're making such
fuss about it, Tn going to get cap.
and show you. Here, hold the gun till
come back"
While he was gorlsI ran the ramrod
down the barrel and found that it was
loaded.
When he returned with a cap I re-
moved the old one and replaced it with
a new one. Pointing the gun upward
pulled the trigger, and a report followed,
the recoil from which nearly knocked
me off the lumber pile and raised the
boatman's hair on end.
'NWhat do you think now, ] asked
"Well, said he, "that's the last time
shall point gun at anybody if l live
100 years
A damp cap alone saved me that time,
and though should not have been to
blame, yet this event would have blight
ed my life still more eifectually than
the first one, for it would Just have
blown my head off my shoulders, and
man who finds himself in that condi-
tion can but acknowledge that his life
is, in a measure, blighted, and his future
plans and prospects somewhat inter-
fered with.
Don't fool with firearms. If gun IS
loaded, and everybody knows it is load
ed, there is very little danger 1t is the
gun and the revolver which is not load
ed which goes off and kills folks, or
mains them for life. So the only safe
way is to handle them mt all times as
though they were loaded.
Get into the habit of so doing, then
it will become natural and easy to you,
and you may be spared the agony Of
gazing upon the mangled form of some
friend through whom you have let day
light.
Always keep behind the gun yourself,
and point the muzzle away from other
people.